Rick: What's up with Gabe Mercado aside from Yakult commercials? Do you still do stand up comedy?
Gabe: I have a show with ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs called Noypi, Ikaw Ba ''to? which shows Monday nights right after Bandila. It's a show that focuses on Filipino values and examines and tests them through social experiments and hidden camera situations. The show has been on for a little over a year and a half and has achieved a lot of success both in terms of ratings and critical acclaim. It's a show I am very very proud to be associated with. Noypi can also be seen on TFC and ANC.
Aside from Noypi, I am also the host of The Real Estate Show (with another Ateneo alumna, Issa Litton) which will premiere at the end of January on TFC and ANC.
I've never done stand up per se although my group SPIT (Silly People's Improv Theater) pioneered improv comedy in Metro Manila. Improv is worlds apart from stand up comedy although both are forms of live comedy. Stand up is completely scripted. Improv is not and improv actors rely on chemistry, quick thinking and a lot of wit and adrenalin to get them through their act. I have a new batch of actors in SPIT and we're still very active, performing in Magnet Katipunan and Magnet Bonifacio High Street as well as doing school tours and workshops. We're also working on a television show/videocast which should be out within the next few months.
I am a partner in Mag:net Bonifacio High Street and I am also a partner in a startup business center for emerging artists called Kolektib which is in Cubao Expo and I also do my part in running the family owned Forest Club in Bay, Laguna.
And yes, I just made a new batch of Yakult commercials.
Rick: During the UAAP basketball season I'd oft see you courtside as well. Were you working with Studio 23's coverage?
Gabe: I was a consultant for ABS-CBN Sports during the last UAAP season. I ran the courtside reporters through one of my workshops and I would often help them out during the coverage. When I wasn't busy watching the game, of course.
Rick: Is it tough staying on the court and not being able to react to calls or bum plays? Or do you?
Gabe: It was surprisingly easy to keep my emotions in check throughout all the games. Aside from the fact that professional decorum dictated it, I was often only one PJ Walsham stride from immediate retribution if I said anything even remotely offensive to the opposing team. Besides, as a father of a three year old child, I find that many Ateneo fans go way overboard with their taunts and reactions to opposing schools and their players. Cheer your heart out for your own team yes, but save your vitriol for NABRO.
Rick: You were with the Blue Babble Battalion during your college days. Aside from the obvious female cheerdancers, any notable changes you see in the cheering today? What is your most unforgettable moment as a member of the BBB?
Gabe: They look healthier now. We were poster boys for coronary disease back then since we were all a little short and pudgy in my batch. In my first La Salle game, I was taunted with shouts of "bansot" until I realized that the description fit about four of us in the team.
They're better looking now and they have a lot more heart now. I'd like to think though that we had more charm. You have to make up in other areas if you're born bansot after all.
Rick: Is it still tough being an Ateneo Blue Eagles fan since we're really not cut out to win a championship year after year?
Gabe: Not at all! I was a fan during the dark ages and I still watched most games back then. Unlike most fans today, I do not feel entitled to a championship. This team deserves my support as long as they play well and they play like gentlemen. It's how you play the game that counts.
Yes, a championship would be nice, but I think it's crazy the way many Ateneans feel that we should do anything to get a championship.
There's more pride in supporting a team that plays well and gives it their all and a coaching staff and team management that cares for the personal growth and formation of the players without compromising academic standards than having a team of mercenaries who don't give a flying fig to academics winning championship after championship.
I hope we never become like that. But if we become too obsessed with winning championships, there's a big danger that we will.
I first met Gabe Mercado several years ago at the Music Museum where his band Da Pulis opened for... Slapshock (yes, for those in the know of the local band scene, I'm still wondering like why). Then a couple of years later I interviewed him for a couple of Ateneo projects including the Generations video that Ateneo is currently using during corporate alumni meetings. Several years ago, I tried doing a project with him regarding comedy only it didn't push through. Maybe we could revive that this year.
Gabe: I have a show with ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs called Noypi, Ikaw Ba ''to? which shows Monday nights right after Bandila. It's a show that focuses on Filipino values and examines and tests them through social experiments and hidden camera situations. The show has been on for a little over a year and a half and has achieved a lot of success both in terms of ratings and critical acclaim. It's a show I am very very proud to be associated with. Noypi can also be seen on TFC and ANC.
Aside from Noypi, I am also the host of The Real Estate Show (with another Ateneo alumna, Issa Litton) which will premiere at the end of January on TFC and ANC.
I've never done stand up per se although my group SPIT (Silly People's Improv Theater) pioneered improv comedy in Metro Manila. Improv is worlds apart from stand up comedy although both are forms of live comedy. Stand up is completely scripted. Improv is not and improv actors rely on chemistry, quick thinking and a lot of wit and adrenalin to get them through their act. I have a new batch of actors in SPIT and we're still very active, performing in Magnet Katipunan and Magnet Bonifacio High Street as well as doing school tours and workshops. We're also working on a television show/videocast which should be out within the next few months.
I am a partner in Mag:net Bonifacio High Street and I am also a partner in a startup business center for emerging artists called Kolektib which is in Cubao Expo and I also do my part in running the family owned Forest Club in Bay, Laguna.
And yes, I just made a new batch of Yakult commercials.
Rick: During the UAAP basketball season I'd oft see you courtside as well. Were you working with Studio 23's coverage?
Gabe: I was a consultant for ABS-CBN Sports during the last UAAP season. I ran the courtside reporters through one of my workshops and I would often help them out during the coverage. When I wasn't busy watching the game, of course.
Rick: Is it tough staying on the court and not being able to react to calls or bum plays? Or do you?
Gabe: It was surprisingly easy to keep my emotions in check throughout all the games. Aside from the fact that professional decorum dictated it, I was often only one PJ Walsham stride from immediate retribution if I said anything even remotely offensive to the opposing team. Besides, as a father of a three year old child, I find that many Ateneo fans go way overboard with their taunts and reactions to opposing schools and their players. Cheer your heart out for your own team yes, but save your vitriol for NABRO.
Rick: You were with the Blue Babble Battalion during your college days. Aside from the obvious female cheerdancers, any notable changes you see in the cheering today? What is your most unforgettable moment as a member of the BBB?
Gabe: They look healthier now. We were poster boys for coronary disease back then since we were all a little short and pudgy in my batch. In my first La Salle game, I was taunted with shouts of "bansot" until I realized that the description fit about four of us in the team.
They're better looking now and they have a lot more heart now. I'd like to think though that we had more charm. You have to make up in other areas if you're born bansot after all.
Rick: Is it still tough being an Ateneo Blue Eagles fan since we're really not cut out to win a championship year after year?
Gabe: Not at all! I was a fan during the dark ages and I still watched most games back then. Unlike most fans today, I do not feel entitled to a championship. This team deserves my support as long as they play well and they play like gentlemen. It's how you play the game that counts.
Yes, a championship would be nice, but I think it's crazy the way many Ateneans feel that we should do anything to get a championship.
There's more pride in supporting a team that plays well and gives it their all and a coaching staff and team management that cares for the personal growth and formation of the players without compromising academic standards than having a team of mercenaries who don't give a flying fig to academics winning championship after championship.
I hope we never become like that. But if we become too obsessed with winning championships, there's a big danger that we will.
I first met Gabe Mercado several years ago at the Music Museum where his band Da Pulis opened for... Slapshock (yes, for those in the know of the local band scene, I'm still wondering like why). Then a couple of years later I interviewed him for a couple of Ateneo projects including the Generations video that Ateneo is currently using during corporate alumni meetings. Several years ago, I tried doing a project with him regarding comedy only it didn't push through. Maybe we could revive that this year.
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